Can body blank hook forming apparatus



Sept. 25, 1951 LAXQ CAN BODY BLANK HOOK FORMING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 5, 1947 nun IIIIIIIIIII L'HHII. h...

INVENTOR. 0 44x0 Sept. 25, 1951 LAXO 2,569,181

' CAN BODY BLANK HOOK FORMING APPARATUS 7 Filed Nov. 5, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. [a 42m Arne/V5713 Sept. 25, 1951 LAXQ CAN BODY BLANK HOOK FORMING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 5, 1947 IN VEN TOR. [a mm Patented Sept. 25, 1951 CAN BODY BLANK HOOK FORMING APPARATUS Ed Laxo, Oakland, Caliii, assignor to Atlas Inaperial Diesel Engine 00., Oakland, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application November 5, 1947, Serial No. 784,229

3 Claims. l

The present invention pertains to apparatus for forming can bodies, and more particularly to edging apparatus for folding hooks on the opposite ends of can body blanks which are to form the interlocking can body sideseams.

.In the manufacture of containers by automatic machinery, tight sidese'ams can be produced if the two. hooks on each body blank are exact counterparts of each other and of the hooks on the other body blanks passing through the machine. sandths of an inch in the length or width of the hooks Y may prevent their formation into a proper sideseam' capable of withstanding the expansion and contraction of the metal and the pressures encountered in food processing.

Some machines form the hooks in two steps at successive stations, as by first producing a right-angle bend and then the final acute-angle bend on the body blank material. Uniformity of production is extremely difiicult, if not impossible, of obtainment by such equipment, in View of the difficulty of properly aligning the teols at each station withrespect to each other, preventingshifting ofeach body blank as it is moved from one station tothe next, and of properly registeringeach blank at each of such folder orbending stations. 7

. It is, therefore, a Object of the present invention to avoid tl e aforeno ted diificulties, and also to provide an apparatus capable of high sustained operational speeds in forming accurate and uniformhooks on the side edges of can body blanks. N V .A further object of the invention is to provide an'impmed apparatus for completely forming can body sideseam hooks at a single station and at higher operational speeds than heretofore obtainable. r 7

one form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and il-: lustratd byway of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through the hook forming station of a can body making machine.

Fig. 2 is an end view of can body blanks, showing the operational steps in forming the hooks ate single folder station. 7

Fig. 3 is an and elevation of one side of the hook forming station.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, with parts in sectien, of the machine as seen from the left of Fig-pl.. Y

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5--5onFig.1.

Variations of only a few'thou- Fig. 6 is a section taken generally along the line 6-8 of Fig. 4.

Fig. *7 is a fragmentary transverse section, similar to Fig. 1, but on an enlarged scale, of the elements for directly bending the books on can body blanks at one side of the folder station.

The machine illustrated in the drawings forms part of a can bodymaker for forming body blanks into cylindrical or similarly shaped containers. The can bod-y blanks have been previously conditioned at other bodyma'ker stations, being fed from a station in which the body blank corners are slit and notched to the folder station, where the hooks on the sides of the body blanks are to be formed. Such blanks are fed along the supporting bracket 19 of the machine, suitably fastened to the. machine base II, by a pair of parallel feed bars 12 having fingers (not shown) engageable with the. .rear edge of each body blank B, in order to transmit the latter from the notching and slitting station to the folder station disclosed in the drawings. These feed bars are slidable within grooves or slots 13 formed between the upper portion l of each bracket and an inner side member l5 secured to the latter by cap screws 16 or the like. The side member I5 has an outwardly projecting tongue I! received within a companion groove !8 in a feed bar 12, in order. to confine the latter forappropriate reciprocating movement longitudinally of the ma-. chine. A plate I 9 extends between the side members 15 on opposite sides of the machine and is suitably fastened thereto, the upper surface of the plate lying in the same plane as the upper surfaces of the bracket I0 and feed bars 12, in order,,,to appropriately support the body blanks B in flattened conditionthereon.

The sides of the, machine are essentially duplica tes of each other with the differences to be noted herein, so that a description of one side, as the left side of the machine as seen in Fig. 1, will suflice for both sides. 7

It is desired to form hooks on the opposed side edges of the can bodyblanks B at a single station of a bodymake'r machine and at a high operational speed. The hooks are first bent at the station by folding the side edges in opposite directions substantially at right angles to the remaining portion of the body blank, after which they are given a second bend'in opposite direc tions to assume an acute angular relationship with respect to the remaining portion of the can body blank. One of the hooks'i's the inner hook, andthe other book is the outer hook, "being formed on opposite sides of the machine, and constituting the distinguishing terms applied to the overlapping and underlapping edges of the body blank when joined together to produce a side seam.

The body blanks, with their notched and slit corners, are fed by the feed bars |2 along the machine to the folder station, being placed at the left of the machine immediately above the edger steel 26 which has an outwardly extending lip 2| whose upper surface 22 lies substantially in a horizontal plane and whose under surface 23 is tapered to form an acute angle with the horizontal surface. A suitable clamp bar 24 is movable downwardly in proper timed relation with other parts of the mechanism to hold the body blank B firmly against the inner edger steel 29 and prevent its shifting during the folding operation.

The hook on the side of the body blank is formed by movement of a companion, outer edger steel 25, which has an upper lip 26 disposed toward the lip 2| on the inner edger steel, whose under surface 21 lies substantially in a horizontal plane, and whose upper surface 28 lies in a plane disposed at an acute angle to the under surface. Downward movement of the outer edger steel 25 first effects its engagement with the body blank B to bend the hook H substantially at right angles to the horizontal plane of the body blank, whereupon an inward tilting movement of the outer steel presses the hook firmly against the lip 2| of the inner edger steel into the desired acute angle position.

The specific apparatus for bending the hooks at a single station at right angles to the plane of the body blank, and then at an acute angle to such plane, includes a holder 29 to which the outer edger steel or hook forming member is firmly clamped. The latter is of generally dovetail shape, fitting within a companion dovetail groove 30 formed by the holder and a clamp member 3| engaging the upper tapered surface of the edger steel and held in clamped position by cap screws 32 threaded into the holder.

The holder 29 is secured to a pin 33 by set screws 34 or the like, the pin being oscillatable in inwardly extending lugs 35 of a slide 36, preferably through the intermediary of antifriction roller bearings 31. This slide has opposed vertical ribs or keys 38 extending into companion grooves formed by guide-ways 39 secured to the sides of the bracket ID by cap screws 40 or the like. The holder has a depending leg 4| whose inner face 42 is machined for accurate engagement with a companion machined face 43 on the slide 36. Such faces are normally held in mutual contact by a compression spring 44 engaging the leg 4| and the head 45 of a stud 46 which it encompasses, the stud extending through an enlarged bore 41 in the leg for threaded reception in the slides 36.

At the proper time in the cycle of operation of the mechanism, the holder 29 and its pin 33 are rocked within the slide 36 by an operating lever 48 oscillatably mounted upon a pin 49 secured to outwardly extending slide lugs 50 by set screws 5| or the like. This operating lever has an inwardly extending arm 52 which is blfurcated to receive a roller 53 rotatably mounted upon a pin 54 fixed to the bifurcated arm portions, the roller engaging a cooperating surface 55 on the edger steel holder 29 in order to rock the same upon rocking or pivotal movement of the operating lever 48 on its supporting pin 49. The operating lever 48 has an outwardly extending arm 56 provided with a tapered face 51 adapted to engage a roller 58 mounted upon an eccentric pin 59 clamped within a split block 60 by a cap screw 6|, the block being secured to the machine frame ID by a cap screw 62.

Since the axis of the roller 58 is stationary, in view of the afiixing of its mounting pin 59 to the frame of the machine, it is evident that downward movement of the slide 36 carries the operating lever 48 downwardly with it and engages the tapered lever face 51 with the roller 58, swinging the lever 48 in a counter-clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 1) and causing the roller 53 on the inner arm 52 of the lever to bear against the holder face 55 and swing the holder 29 in a clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 1), in order to bend the hook H into its acute angular relationship (disclosed in the lower portion of Fig. 2).

The lever 48 is urged in an upward direction, to hold its roller 53 in engagement with the cooperative face 55 on the holder 29, by a spring 69 mounted in the slide 36 and having one end engaging a plug 64 threaded into the slide and its other end engaging a plunger 65 whose upper end contacts the operating lever 48. This spring 63, however, exerts a much lesser force than the compression spring 44 which urges the holder leg and slide faces 42, 43 into mutual contact.

The frame or bracket H] of the machine has a pair of longitudinally spaced bearings 66 receiving a shaft 61 on which a rocker device 68 is oscillatably mounted through the agency of roller or corresponding bearings 69. This rocker has an outwardly extending arm 10 whose free end is clamped to an eccentric stud 1| projecting from the arm, and on which is oscillatably mounted the upper end of a connecting rod 12 whose other end is suitably mounted upon a crank mechanism (not shown), in order that rotation of such mechanism imparts a rocking or oscillating movement to the arm 10 and to the rocker mechanism 68. The rocker mechanism also includes a second outwardly extending arm 13 whose outer end is split for clamping onto a pin or shaft 14 on which the upper end of a drag link 15 is suitably mounted through the agency of roller bearings 16. The other end of the drag link is connected to the pin 49 extending across the slide 36. Accordingly, during the oscillation of the rocker mechanism 68, the slide 36 is vertically reciprocated in its guide-ways 39 through its drag link connection 15 with the rocker.

The spring 44 normally positions and maintains the holder 29 with its face 42 in contact with the companion slide face 43, in which position the undersurface 21 of the lip 26 on the outer edger steel 25 lies in a horizontal plane, and its side surface 11 below the lip 26 in a vertical plane, forming a gauging face for the side edges of the body blanks B preparatory to their bending or folding into hooks. At the institution of the cycle of operation of the mechanism, the slide 36 and other parts occupy an uppermost position, in which the edger steel lip 26 is disposed above the body blank B. Accordingly, the crank and connecting rod mechanism 12 first moves the rocker 68 downwardly, which moves the slide 36 downwardly in a straight line path and correspondingly shifts the edger steel 25 until its lip 26 engages the side of the body blank and bends it at right angles, in the manner disclosed in Fig. l and in the intermediate figure of Fig. 2.

When the tapered face 28 of the lip has been disposed slightly below the lip 2| 'on the inner edger steel 20, the tapered surface on the operating lever 48' engages the roller 58 mounted on the stationary eccentric pin 59. At this time the slide 36 is still moving downwardly, resulting in a counter-clockwise movement of the operating lever 48 on its pin 49 and a corresponding clockwise or inward shifting of the holder 29 and its edger steel toward the inner edger steel 20, effecting a bending of the hook H-to an acute angle, which is exact since it i bent firmly against the tapered face 23 of the inner lip 2|. During such clockwise movement of the holder 29, the face 42 on its leg 4| moves away from the corresponding slide face 43 against the action of the compressed spring 44.

Upon the upward stroke of the slide 36, the tapered face 5'! of the operating lever 43 is elevated above its engaged position with the roller 58, allowing thespring .4 to rock the'holder 29 in'a'counter-clockwise direction and re-engage the faces 42, 43, in order that the edger steel lip 26 can clear the body blank B upon its continued upward movement with the slide to its initial or starting position above the plane of the blank. The innermost edge of the lip 28, when in its starting position, is disposed in a plane which is spaced from the vertical plane containing the outermost edge of the inner lip 2| by an amount essentially equal to the thickness or gauge of the body blank B, in order to enable the bending'action along the body blank to occur without interference or jamming. It is to be noted that the gauge face Tl on the edger steel 25 is displaced from the outermost portion of the inner I lip 2| by an amount which is equal to the transverse distance across the outer surface of the hook H being formed. These parts are accurately related to one another to insure the obtaining of a hook H of proper dimensions, and the tapered faces 28, 23 on the lips 26, 2| are also accurately proportioned with'respect to one another, so as to insure the bending of the hooks on the body blanks to the exact angle required.

' The body blanks B are held firmly against the of a pair of longitudinally spaced arms 8| exr tending from a common hub 82 oscillatably mounted upon a pin 83 held within upper hearing supports84 in the side brackets iii of the machine. For the purpose of reducing friction, roller bearings 85 may be interposed between the hub 82 and the shaft 83. A central arm extends outwardly from the hub and carries a roller B'I'mounted upon an eccentric pin 88 fastened between the outer clamping cars 89 of the arm 86,. This roller B'i'is engageable with a cam segment 9|! secured'to the rocker mechanism 68. Specifically, the cam segment has an inner circular face 9| adapted to engage the external companion face of the rocker hub 92, being held in position by a block or lug 93 clamped to the external circular portion of the segment 90 by a cap screw 94 extending through the lug 93 and threaded into the hub 92. By loosening the screw 94, the cam segment 99 may be. ad- ,iusted circumferentially around the hub 92, in

6. order "to accurately determine the timedre'la tionship between operation of the clamping mechanism and the other operational sequences of the machine.

The cam segment has a step or projection 95 on its periphery which is adapted to engage the'roller 81 of the rocker arm 88, pivoting the arm in a clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. '1) and engaging the clamp bar 24 with the body blank B. Such clamping action occurs during downward movement of the cam segment 98. Upon upward movement of the cam segment. its step 95 rides off the roller 87 and the clamp ing rocker 86, 3| can then be moved in a coun t er-clockwise direction, to elevate its bar 24 from the body blank B, by a suitable spring 96 received within a boss 8'! on an inner arm 8| of the rocker mechanism and bearing against the frame H! of the machine.

In the operation of the mechanism, the parts first occupy an uppermost position with the clamp bar 24 elevated from the body blank B. The blank is fed by the feed bar mechanism 12 to its proper position of registry with the tools at' the folder station, the vertical face 7'! of the edgersteel acting as a gauge, assuring the proper alignment of the body'blank with the tools. As the connecting I rod -12 moves downward, it swings the entire rocker assembly 68 in a dow-nward direction, causing the cam segment stepfQS to engage the roller Bl and move the clamp bar 24 down against the body blank B. Continued downward movement of the rocker mechanism 58 shifts the slide 36 downwardly, causing the horizontal surface 21 of the outer lip 26 to engage the side margins of the body blank and bend it to the right angular relationship 'disclosed in Fig. 1. Continuedmovement of the slide'36 then engages the tapered face 5'! of the operating lever 48 with the roller 58, causing the former to swing in a counter-clockwise direction and the tool holder 2?: in a clockwise direction, forcing the hooks H against the tapered face 23 of the inner lip 2! to its proper acute angle position. Thereafter, the connecting rod 12 moves in an upward directionto correspond ingly'shift therocker device 68 man upward direction, first allowing the spring 44 to swing the holder 29 back to its vertical position, upon disengagement of the tapered operatingle'ver face 51 from the roller '53, and then carrying the mechanism, including the edger steel 25, upwardly free from engagement with the body blank B backto its initial position. During such upward movement, the step at on the cam- 90 moves from engagement with the roller 8! allow-'- ing the springs 93 toelevate the clamp bar-24 from the body blank, and permitting the latter to be shifted by the feedbars 12 to the next station of the bodymaker.

The hooks H on the opposite sides of each body blank B- are folded in opposite directions. Accordingly, the folding tools are arranged on one side of the machine for operation in a direction opposite to that on the other side of the machine.

Essentially, however, one part is a duplicate of the other part. As disclosed in Fig. 1, the mewment of the connecting rod 12 (not shown) at the right thereof is out of phase with the operation just described, except that the clamp bars 24, 24a on both sides of the machine operate in unison and in the same direction. As disclosed in the drawings, the edger steel 25a on the right side of the machine has its lip 26a and its gauge face 11a reversed from the position illustrated on the left side of the machine. That is, at the start of the cycle of forming the hook on the right side of the body blank, the horizontal surface 21a of the lip will be disposed below the body blank B, with the vertical gauge face Tla extending above the horizontal surface. Also, the inner edger steel 24a is mounted on the clamp webs 18 to form the clamp bar as well, instead of being secured to the frame and is reversed with respect to the inner steel 20 on the other side of the machine. During downward movement of the slide 36 on the left side of the machine, the right slide 36 is moved upwardly, the two sides of the machine operating in synchronism with one another, but in opposite directions.

The step 95a on the clamping rocker arm actuating segment 90a is disposed on the lower part of said segment, engaging the companion roller 81 on the rocker arm 86 While moving in an upward direction to clamp the bar 24a against the body blank. It is to be noted that the face 51a on the operating lever 48a is adapted to engage the under portion of the roller 58 mounted on the fixed eccentric pin 59, in order that upward movement of the slide 36 can produce rocking of the operating lever 48a in a clockwise direction and the holder 29 in a counter-clockwise direction in bending the hook H to its acute angular relationship with respect to the main central portion of the body blank.

It is, accordingly, apparent that a hook folding apparatus has been disclosed which assures the accurate registry of the body blank at the folding station, the clamping of such blank firmly during the hook-forming operation, in order to prevent its shifting, and the formation at a single station of the hooks upon the occurrence of two separate operational sequences, namely; a first folding of the hooks at right angles to the plane of the body blank, followed by a second folding to the desired acute angle. The parts need not be moved between stations in order to fully form the hooks on each side of each body blank, which enables the hooks to be formed with exactness, the hooks on the opposite sides of each body blank being alike and precisely same as the hooks formed on other body blanks. The mechanism lends itself to high sustained operational speeds, while insuring the subsequent formation of tight sideseams during the interlocking of the outer and inner hooks with one another.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in detail, it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for forming a sideseam hook on a can body blank, including a supporting member, a tool member, a movable tool member adjacent and cooperable with said other tool member to form said hook therebetween, a slide movable in said supporting member substantially at right angles to the plane of said blank, a holder ,5

for said movable member pivotallymounted on said slide, an operating member pivotally mounted on said slide and engageable with said holder,

means on said supporting member engageable with said operating member upon movement of said slide to effect movement of said holder and its movable tool member toward said other tool member, a clamp on said supporting member engageable with said body blank, means connected to said slide for moving it in said supporting member, said last-mentioned means comprising a rocker pivotally mounted on said supporting member, and means on said rocker for actuating said clamp.

2. Apparatus for forming a sideseam hook on a can body blank, including a supporting member, a tool member having an outwardly directed lip, a movable tool member adjacent and cooperable with said other tool member, said movable tool member having an inwardly extending lip and a gauge face substantially perpendicular to the plane of said blank, a slide movable in said supporting member substantially at right angles to the plane of said blank, a holder for said movable member pivotally mounted on said slide, an operating member pivotally mounted on said slide and engageable with said holder, means on said supporting member engageable with said operating member upon movement of said slide to eflect movement of said holder and its movable tool member toward said other tool member, a clamp pivoted on said supporting member, and engageable with said body blank, means connected to said slide for moving it along said supporting member, said last-mentioned means comprising a rocker pivotally mounted on said supporting member, and means on said rocker for actuating said clamp.

3. Apparatus for forming can body side seam hooks comprising a frame, a feed table including a folding station, a folding tool disposed at said folding station and supported for movement perpendicularly to the plane of said feed table to form a right-angle bend in a can body blank and for rocking movement to form an acute-angle bend, slide means for reciprocating said tool perpendicularly to the plane of said feed table, and pivotal means for rocking said tool, said pivotal means including an oscillatable lever supported for movement with said tool, a second oscillatable lever also supported for movement with said tool and resilient means for holding said second lever in contact with said first lever, and eccentric means fixed with respect to said frame for actuating said second lever and thereby rooking said tool, said eccentric means being adjustable to adjust and time the rocking movement of said tool.

ED LAXO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 250,266 Leavitt Nov. 29, 1881 845,988 Walsh Mar. 5, 1907 1,055,973 Graham Mar. 11, 1913 1,436,548 Stevenson Nov. 21, 1922 

